[Rakim]Yeah, it's the god RakimWord up, I'm blazin this out to all my comradesYanamean? From the slums of New York, to the gutters all over the worldThis is for y'all....Through my travels I try to take righteous stepsBecause right or left could mean life or deathNo matter how trife it get, my sights is setBut it's twice the threat when the ?nights is death?My mental windows refuse to close, they get exposedTo the neighborhood info where the poison wind blowsA deadly plague spreadin negativity, viciouslyUnto every city be in ghetto miseryDon't let it get to me, the writer be left to dieBut it get mesmerize if it catch your eyeShines enormous, from pure revered Kool's and garmentsBut it's torment, jealousy drug wars or warringTallying, slowly turnin into barbariansMore scary when the whole boulevard's carryinLivin in the world of sin, my ghetto girls and menWaiting for the world to end

I see destruc-tion, even little kids trust noneThey bust guns, that's what they get a rush fromWhen I see em, we build and have a real discussion"Yo Ra, what's the jewel of the day?" "What up, son""You got ambition?" Shorty said, "Man listenI got demands for livin, can't stand divisionMake grands on my mission, till everything glistenWomen in the Expedition, no plans for prisonIn a vision the city get, 2 milleni GSittin in my MSC sippin HennesyGettin high, and watch life pass me by"So I asked him why, wit a fast replyHe said "I'm livin just to die without any feelingsSo I wait here for my Maker till it's time to goWit this dime I knowWit all of her girls and all of my mensWaitin for the world to end"

Chorus 2x

Shorty was taught to keep his head to the sky, and never cryBut the streets left him to die, now it's death in his eyeLivin a sin of hitmen, a sinister grinFrom be-ginning to end, in it to winEvil rebels, doin what we doin in the ghettoThinkin if we was thorough we can deceive the devilYou can't win, your life be end, try againShorty said, "Why we born again to die again?"That's what I said when I realized I had a giftTo uplift and be one of Allah's advocatesTeach the youth and speak the truthShow em what peace can do when ?ill? reach for youAnd my reward won't be jewels or cheese, it's even betterI can be one of the greatest MC's everIf I tell em they intelligent women and great menAnd live, stop waitin for the world to end

Chorus 2x

"I'm ragin, rippin up the stage an'Don't it sound amazin, know what I mean?" [Rakim] "Don't it sound amazin, know what I mean?""Rakim"